This is traditional style of altbeir from Düsseldorf, Germany. Alt literally means old in German. Staying as true to the recipe as possible, the Headwall Alt is brewed using German malts, plus German and American hops. Like the Pale Ale, the Headwall Alt is cold conditioned, dry-hopped and krausened in the bottle or keg. Similar to the Pale Ale, the process takes about 30 days.

Reviews by yuenglingade:

More User Reviews:

This was a dark brown beer with reddish highlights. It had a thick coffee-colored head. Nice looking beer. It had a roasted grain aroma, and I thought a touch of nut. Taste was sweet caramel, malt, a bit hoppy, and again a touch of nut. A heavier beer than it looked; a couple of these at a time would do it for me.

12 ouncer, brought down from up north by Grover, thanks Mikey for the beer delivery! "Exp" date notched onto the label. April is notched, but you can't tell what year we are talking about...so what use is it? If its 2008, its 6 months past time, if its 2009, its good for about 6 months, hmmm, I'll give em the benefit of the doubt, but would it be so hard to include the year?!?

Pours dark amber, light mahogany, dark tan medium bubble head, showing some retentive powers and leaving moderate spots of lace on the glass. Light sweet, malty nose with a minor hint of smoke. Malty brew, caramel, vanilla, honey/malt sweetness smooth on the tongue. Again some very light smoke picked up late and dove tailing with drying yet smooth hops. Nice U.S. take on the style. Pleasant and respectable sessioner. Would work well with BBQ and/or as part of a marinade.

A light crispy and jazzy malty feel and flavor, light biscuit, dark wheat bread, dry, spicey hops and sour from the yeast. A most excellent balance, clean light feel keeps it going strong for a long session!

12oz bottle into an Allagash chalice. Notch on label states October, I'm guessing for 2012. Ah well, to the review!

The body of this alt is a deep brown with a nice white cap. The head sticks around for a bit and leaves behind some good lacing.

Aromas mostly of roasted malts which makes for a pleasant nose. Some light hops in there as well rounds it out pretty well.

Taste resembles the nose with loads of roasty maltiness. Caramel and roasted nuts are the most prominent. Some lingering bitterness but nothing to overwhelming. Good balance if nothing else. Medium in body and carbonation with a good smooth finish.

Good solid beer from a brewery I don't know a ton about. If I see another sixer of them around I'll probably be picking it up.

Enjoyed on tap at The Thirsty Moose. A bold tasting malt with nutty elements of a brown ale. An acidic tartness, unexpected.Sweet malt in the aroma. Very dark red and lacey. A bit watery. Not so drinkable, maybe another place another time would yield better results.

A good take on the altbier style... pours a clear, chestnut brown body beneath a creamy head of light tan. The head retention is average, and it drops shortly but leaves some nice lace before it goes. The body is medium and it has a delicate, fine-bubbled median carbonation. The nose is malty with a delicate note of caramel, and that's true for the flavor as well. It's not meant to be complex, just balanced. Solidly bitter, as it should be. It lingers on the tongue with some mild residual leafy hop notes and a dull bitter note. Enjoyable. Probably worth trying.

Appearance: Amber, almost maple colored, a froth of beige that made a ring around the collar of my glass.

Smell: Way too hoppy for the style, it smelled citrusy like cascade. At first I thought it was just me having a New England micro hop overdose, but no, my friend who sampled the same Beer made the same comment.

Taste: Okay, the taste conforms a little bit more, caramel malts dominates and has a fruity mouthfeel, maybe again, a little too much hop finish. Brewed to style? No. Enjoyable? Much more than their Pale Ale which tasted too infected to review.

From the 12 fl. oz. bottle with an expiration date of February ('10). Sampled on December 31, 2009. It pours a maple syrup-brown with three quarters inch frothy, long-lasting beige head. The aroma has a kind of perfumey-wooden note to it as well as a welcome cleanliness. The taste is slightly bitter with a sweetness that comes up on the tail end. A nice brew.

T: Steely bread crust, some malty sweetness, bready malts, a bit of toasty grains, and a fairly big hint of drying roast. Spicy / floral / leafy hops are just a step behind. Not a huge ton of variety going on, but very nicely rich in a straight forward way. A bit of dark fruit comes out as it warms and the hops increase as well.

M: Just the barest hair over medium body with carbonation matched. Starts with some sweetness and chew, but quite smooth. Finishes a bit drying both from the hops and the hint of roast.

D: Fairly balanced – just leaning slightly to malts, but with fair bittering and bit of hop flavor. A rather nice rendition of the style.

Poured from the bottle into a nonic pint glass, good untill October we good to go!

An appearance of cloudy dull chestnut brown/amber for the color with nce dark orange edges. Head a light tan but does not stick around at all.

Bouquet is small. Mild toasted malt but no yeast bent or anything. Not particularly strong for an altbier.

Taste is long story short, lacking and kind of lifeless. Malt strong sharp presence, but with a very light almost wet body. A nice sort of brown spice (nutmeg/cinammon?) in the finish but brings a stinging feel.

Overall not too bad but feels a little downplayed. The spice angle on this is totally unexpected and a nice touch.